CaptainRyan

I did say I was not implying that all metals made by a Shard (steel, iron, etc.) are Godmetals but rather that the physical manifestation of the actual Shard (Lerasium for Preservation, Atium for Ruin) are the Godmetals. They are Allomantically active metals that grant unique powers and can be used to create unique alloys. Lerasium is literally a physical piece of Preservation whereas iron mined from Scadrial is simply a metal made by the power of Preservation but is not actually a piece of Preservation.

One thing to remember is that "Godmetal" is a term for the physical form of a Shard on Scardial. There are no "Godmetals" on Roshar. That being said, a Shardblade does seem to be a "metal" from a "god" so it is not necessarily incorrect to call it a godmetal. Basically, my point is somewhat pedantic but I want to be sure that it is clear what the Cosmere term "Godmetal" refers to - the physical form of a Shard on Scadrial.

The "quotes under your post" is known as a signature. As you can tell from my posts, I have, so far, not set one up so I can be of little help in that area. A display name used to be separate from your username but with the recent update to the site I believe they were merged. So, your 'display name' is "Elendtheking" and mine is "CaptainRyan". I apologize if any of this is incorrect information. Hopefully, if I am wrong, someone will come along and fix it haha. Also, hopefully someone will help you with the signature bit. Good luck!

The Radiant in the Midnight Essence vision Dalinar has mentions something about how "Alethia" (or something - an older name for Alethkar) was the one nation that practiced the art of war so that the other nations did not have to. Perhaps the other nations specialized in agriculture, industry, etc. and the remnants of that specialization is reflected in the status they apply to certain jobs now.

After rereading the OP I have come to the conclusion that people are down-voting for a couple of reasons. 1) The tone could be read as (note: I am not saying the tone is) arrogant and smug. 2) The whole post could easily be seen as vaguely insulting to people who like works of Sanderson that are not the Stormlight Archive. (calling the rest of Sanderson's work "kiddy") 3) For people who are more aware of how Brandon operates the whole post comes off as completely incorrect. Brandon thrives on helping others become better writers (Writing Excuses podcast, Warbreaker for free plus all the draft versions to show progress, teaching a Creative Writing class at BYU, posting annotations etc.). Brandon has also said that writing multiple projects is how he staves off writer's block. So, the complaint that Brandon needs to focus on the "important" series and stop doing these other things is very off-base as depriving Brandon of these things would most likely cause him to stop writing all-together. I think I could go on but I definitely see why people are looking at this post and going "Yup, that is a down vote worthy post." The sentiments expressed herein could definitely be shared in a way that does not insult other fans and that does not contradict the stated methodology of the author in question. Also, while writing this, the OP posted another comment mentioning how It is exactly this sort of mentality (I am right and other people are wrong) that attracted the first round of down votes and I can only imagine that if the same people read this far another wave of down votes is coming. Lastly, I would like to say that I am in no way trying to insult the OP. I am spelling out my interpretation of what might have been the cause of the down votes.

I second this. I would place my bet on the spren. As to @Pagerunner's objection that the Heralds abandonded the people of Roshar and not the spren - well, I think the Heralds abandonment of the Oathpact can also be seen as a betrayal of the spren. If Odium wins then the spren are going to be in trouble as well. Also, we do not yet know the cause of the Recreance and it is possible the Heralds were somehow involved.

We know that they are two very separate things because: 1) A Shard's power resides (mostly) in the Spiritual Realm 2) Harmony (and, presumably, other Shards) cannot interact with the "Beyond" It would be weird for Harmony to "live" in the Spiritual Realm and yet be unable to interact with the Spiritual Realm.

Some of the symbols are not linked to a metal but are simply used as characters in an alphabet. http://theoryland.com/intvsresults.php?kw=allomantic+symbols (see #7)

Relevant:

@Wayne Ligon: Welcome to the forums! That is so cool that you have published works and are working to further your passion. I am always willing to read a story and provide feedback if you are ever in need of another set of eyes.

In the same way that Allomancy and Surgebinding are "end-positive" only from the viewpoint of the user (neither Allomancy nor Surgebinding creates new Investiture in the Cosmere) Hemalurgy is "end-negative" only from the viewpoint of the user (Hemalurgy is not destroying Investiture from the Cosmere). You are correct in saying that the user's soul does not reabsorb any lost Investiture and that is why Hemalurgy is referred to as "end-negative". That "lost" Investiture, however, does not mysteriously disappear but is, instead, absorbed back in to the Cosmere. If you spike a soul and steal Allomantic Brass then the person spiked loses their Allomantic Brass and the spike is now Invested. If you leave the spike sitting on the ground it slowly loses that Investiture. That Investiture being lost from the spike is exactly equivalent to Stormlight draining from a sphere; it simply heads back to wherever Investiture goes. The sphere is not destroying Investiture and the spike is not destroying Investiture.

I believe this interpretation is incorrect - Hemalurgically charged spikes do decay over time but that decay simply allows the Investiture to "return to the Cosmere" and is not actively removing Investiture from the Cosmere. In the same way that Breaths return to Endowment over time, the lost Investiture of Hemalurgic decay returns to [Preservation|Ruin|Harmoy].

It is the Windrunner blade and Jezrien was the Herald of the Windrunners.

While I would not say you are incorrect I would say that there is historical precedent for this not being 100% accurate. Warfare is a great spur for science and industry whereas a group of people who live in relative peace and stability are at risk of being... stagnant. The tribes in the Amazon jungle, Native Americans before Europeans came, China until Europeans came, Japan until Europeans came etc. There groups had relatively stable existences and lagged behind the Europeans who had incredibly unstable existences. Theoretically, a group who truly invested their full resources into innovation, industry and science would probably have an advantage over a group that was stuck in perpetual warfare but it seems that stable, peaceful groups do not spur themselves into mass research and production but rather become comfortable in their stability.

I believe that Nightblood "corrupts" Investiture. This is the dark smoke that rises from him when he is unsheathed. Nightblood is therefore not changing the total amount of Investiture in the Cosmere but he might be reducing the amount of usable Investiture in the Cosmere. On the other hand, I do not know if the corrupted Investiture slowly returns to an uncorrupted state or not.

@Erai Sedai - What is your sig pic from (the female elf)?

Welcome! One thing I love about audio books is it helps me with my Cosmere-related pronunciation. Have you heard of "Graphic Audio"? They do some amazing stuff with audio books. They currently have the original Mistborn trilogy and the Way of Kings available. You should check them out if you have not heard any of their stuff before. Also, inb4 "Do you work for GA??!" No, I do not haha. I am simply a fan of their work.

Is that... is that a fat joke?

IT IS COMING! WOOHOO!

Good point, I had not considered that Szeth does not have Surgebinding. That just might even the odds.

Why would she seek out the Skybreakers? She has an entire network of spies and assassins. Not to mention that we have no indication that Ialai is aware that the Skybreakers even exist. We have seen Adolin try to fight Szeth and it ends poorly for him each time. Adolin is no match for Szeth.

Hello @Lady Radiant, we, the internet, are pleased by your existence.

No worries @Yata, I know you are a very reliable source! I asked mainly so that I could have something to reference in the future haha.